Hillcrest has my support on this. Gotta protect your patents, right?

NnamkcebNairb

Part of me is beginning to wish there were no patent system.

I completely understand companies wanting to protect their intellectual property, but there is a huge difference between stealing someone's idea and having the same idea.

The real issue with patents is that they can be too damn vague. To me, patenting something should be a multi-step process.

First you patent an idea, then you have a certain amount of time to build that idea. By the end of the deadline, you must submit complete specs for your product, including final designs. If you fail to do so, your patent is nullified.

For instance, the Immersion suit was perfectly acceptable as the rumble in question was the exact same technology. This suit, however, seems to be over a general idea, not exact implementation.

Mact

Why don't we ever hear about this amazing technology developed by some company we've never heard of until a company we have heard of uses said tech in a product.

If I had invented something similar to the wiimote I would be trying to make money off of it myself.

everyoneisstupid

I actually have a patent for motion, seriously.. your all fucked now.

liquid_kore

Fuck patent squatters. First Anascape and now Hillcrest.
Fuck both of those companies.

MrMister

Patents should be banned. They were originally intended to promote innovation, but these days, all they're used for is to prevent it.

Programmers are advised never to read patents as it incurs treble damages if violated - how exactly are disclosing methods in patents helping move things forward if everyone tries their best to /avoid knowing about them/? They just wind up in some nuclear patent arsenal waiting to destroy the people who actually create things that the patent holder was hoping they'd figure out how to create some day.

Kral2

I kinda wonder if all these companies are violating each other's patents for patenting the same idea?

Xagest

The Wii's success is bringing the money grubbers out of the woodwork.

GeeBee

Seems like this will be a pissing contest between the companies to see who has the bigger, better lawyer. Seems Hillcrest has a bone to pick with a large member of the Wii creators. Too bad the Wii has the biggest wii of all.

I tried.

Thassodar

@yanipheonu: yeah...i was kinda wondering that myself.

bigman88zz

I hate people

luigiman0

They took their time, didn't they?

headcrab

Isn't this like the third company to try to sue Nintendo over the motion control patent?

That doesn't quite add up to me, personally.

0bsessions

Maybe they were waiting to see the outcome of the whole wavebird lawsuit against Nintendo. Now they think they have a chance.

everyoneisstupid

Oh no, now we'll never be able to get our hands on a Wii!

...again.

The_Foo

@Cry0Tek: ...because court cases depend on whether or not people like the product? I'm confused. Can you please explain what you meant by that?

Wolfers

You can't attach "on tv" or "in a video game" to any activity and make it patentable. Only the original idea is patentable. Thus, motion controls for a device are patentable, but those patents were used up quite a while a go.

ScottG13

I thought Nintendo outsourced the technology for the motion sensing... so are they even sueing the right company?

yanipheonu

@themadman123:Two and a half, if you count the offical announcement when it was first shown, which if you wanted to file a lawsuit, would be logical to file then, as Nintendo vowed to nuke Coleco to dust when they tried to bring Donkey Kong to their system, something they didn't have the right to do. They found out about it at CES.

Foxstar Sixtail

@Calite: Just looked at that. Um...so are they suing Nintendo over the Wii Wheel? They're thing is round, and it looks to me like you just tilt it to move it around an on-screen circle.

KingBroly

"...and a graphic interface tech called Home."

Uh oh. Look out, Sony, you're next.

eugaet

The bigger problem for Nintendo is if the ITC decides to block imports of the Wii for the next year or so. I don't think anything like that has ever been done but you never know..

AS for Hillcrest, they don't seem like the usual patent-sitting company that doesn't have a product. They're actually developping the technoligy and licensing it to other people. These guys are as legit as Immersion is to the rumble technology. And that spells trouble for Nintendo.

Rask

CRISWELL PREDICTS:

There will be a class action lawsuit involving all major television manufacturers against Nintendo Co. for blatant plagiarism of their highly proprietary remote control design.

Yaanu

That makes law suit number (insert large number here)

Lazlo

@Calite: Oh and by the way, their site with their products on it can be viewed here: [www.hillcrestlabs.com]

Calite

The way these things are going you'd think someone's reading videogame blogs and patenting other "soon to be hip" tech.

I know that's just paranoia. But it really is irritating if a someone/company files a patent and doesn't do anything with it for a few years and when the time comes that someone actually does something with it, they wait til said company makes a ton of cash first before suing 'em.

It's not like consoles and peripherals are announced and made the next day/week. If they're really in it for their patents wouldn't it be better to do something about it when they hear something announced like it? Then they can dig up and enter into negotiations and not look like total douchebags. Yeah I know what I just said is extremely hard to do but just a thought....

excaliburps

The lawsuit isn't bullshit. Hillcrest aren't patent trolls, they've actually used their patents and created technology based on them. They have every right to sue if the Nintendo Wii system is similar to their Freespace and HoME system.

I do agree that they've come in awfully late for this. But that could be for legal reasons, they may have wanted to check with lawyers and do some hardware/software testing to ensure it's as similar as they thought.

In any case, they do seem to have grounds for the suit, unlike most people, but again, suspiciously late.

Calite

@DigitalHero: exactly, hence the reason why they are suing. One of thier patents probably has claims broad enough that covers the wii motion device. The lawyers for hillcrest are interpreting the claims to cover the wii 'unique' motion device. Now it's up to a patent judge to determine if their interpretation is valid.

Jun581 won't give you tree fiddy!!

so what lawsuit against nintendo is this now? 100?

kilikafinal

@Hand_O_Death: That was Grade A choice Excellent.

Stilll, this is the inevitable consequence of the ass-backwards patent system. Parallel evolution is part of developing any idea. Imagine what would have happened if the wheel had been patented according to our system. It's utterly assinine. Science doesn't need a 'head start' to justify itself. Companies will viciously attempt to invent things in order to make money whether they have a protected period of exclusivity or not. What they won't do is abuse that exclusivity to rest on their laurels and rake in cash without any drive or need to improve their product. I'm not a big nintendo fan, but you have to see that the product is what counts. If you can please enough people with yoru goofy bowling game--that's what it's about, not developing some kind of tool just to get a piece of the creatively marketed ideas that other people invent.

deathbunny

Yet another lawsuit that if they were going to bother, they should have done it a very long time ago.

DukeOfPwn

Another day... another lawsuit against Nintendo.

DaveKap

What a waste of money of court fees for that company LMAO!

Practically everyone knows about the Wii and likes it in some way, or another.

FAIL. Moving on.

Cry0Tek

Hope the judge throws this case out. Hillcrest deserves nothing less than going bankrupt for a bullshit lawsuit like this.

NeoAkira

Hillcrest does make a bunch of motion type devices for television so this could be a win.

DigitalHero

@KingBroly: could be. Or they wanted to confer with their attorneys to make sure that Nintendo is in violation with the patent(s). When companies sue another one over patent infringment, it usually becuase they feel that another company violated thier patent based on thier interpretation of the claims. That's why they usually try to get to the claims as broad as possible to cover a multitude of things.

Jun581 won't give you tree fiddy!!

PATENT TROLLS! FUCK YEAH!!!

MR. FAP★FAP!

Some guy's regular lawyer vs. Megabucks Nintendo's Mega Lawyers with Phoenix Wright style objections. I know who I'd bet on.

Reikoku

hmmmm, how long has the Wii been out now? almost two years? and it took them this long to sue?

Yeah, I'm sure

themadman123

I'm gonna patent a video game system with better stats than the PS3 and will sue the entire next generation of console makers.

Schmatz

Wow. Another company trying to sue the Wii.

This should become an annual tradition.

Ad-hominem

*sniff, sniff*...Hey, Nintendo has CASH! Let's take it!

jasongw

Olol. Patent smells of phail.

CanaryWundaboy

Yeah I'll sue Nintendo too, see, I used to wave my hands frantically around the living room when I was a kid, pretending I was playing the drums or a guitar or a flute - but guess what, I WASN'T!

PsyComa

Wow.

1-They've waited, what almost 2 years?

2-15 months? So a whole other year before anything comes of this.

3-Smells like more patent trolls who want to hop on the money train.

4-They have as much chance of winning and not being overturned as a snowball has of lasting a hour in Death Valley during high noon.

Bring on more patent trolls and failed half-asses with $$'s for eyes. I need my entertainment.

Foxstar Sixtail

Not again........

Chrinkster

"Hey you guys have made alot of money, remember when I told you about that motion controler when we were drunk at a party. Well I am suing yo ass for it now. Sweet life here I come."

This is how a story is born.

JustJake

@KingBroly: agreed. maybe they dont get out much....

givetozim!

Gotta love these freakin' scammers. Always waiting to launch lawsuits when other people come up with ideas similar to bullshit patents they filed ages ago.

Dave Silva

First the GC and now the Wii. People sure try really hard to find something that is "violating" their patents. Total BS.

lurkingsalt

guess they didn't know about the Wii before. It has been kind of under the radar the past few years.

Hand_O_Death

"Hillcrest is seeking to block imports of the Wii and Wii remotes"

What imports? All the Wii Nintendo makes goes to Europe...

atoxic

Don't you think they waited a bit too long before doing this?

KingBroly

@Mact: Yes, but as I recall no one had any idea what the Revolution did until the controller's reveal at E3 2006. Seems to me that this case might not BS, despite my inclination to think so about suits against the Wii and Nintendo in general. It's late, but quite possibly legitimate.

Xenigma

Does anyone here find that these companies that are suing Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft more than annoying? I understand that you've placed a patent out there for some piece of technology to be used for something other than gaming, but then you see that Nintendo has become hugely successful with their motion control gaming and they basically just want a piece of the pie. I feel that the patent laws/lawsuits need to be changed to where an actual working prototype needs to be created to actually show true comparisons. Having it on paper is one thing, but to have an actual working model is another. Yes, I do understand that these little companies don't have the funds to push production or research for their product like Nintendo and the other companies do, but is that something that Nintendo can be blamed for? But since it is their responsibility to research the patents that relate to their product and make sure that there is nothing to conflict their motion controller to another, then these lawsutis are probably going to keep propagating unfortuantely.

Killer_WaLrUs

Oh for crying out loud.

TheLoudCowboy

@Tiber:

So basically they had the not too revolutionary idea of making stuff move on screen via some sort of control and just patented every way it could conceivably be done?

Disgusting.

Mact

I also enjoy that the "leading consumer electronic companies" licensing their products have not been disclosed.

Mact

Funny to sue someone who helped your industry.

[www.eetimes.com]
via [www.hillcrestlabs.com]

Mact

I've sadly had the displeasure of working directly with Hillcrest on a project in my former job. Back then, they were roughly 60 university guys burning through venture capital at an alarming rate. They were in desperate need of a real partner to develop a consumer electronics product based on their concept (their interface concept was little more than an interesting interactive mockup, barely chugging along on a fully fledged PC-based platform). Overall they were nice guys with some good ideas, but even after the deal was signed, they shrouded their concept in so much secrecy that they were impossible to work with. At the same time, they were so filled with pride and overreaching in ambition while at the same time overestimating performance of low level consumer hardware that it became the downfall of that particular implementation of their product.

From what I gather, history has been repeating everywhere they went since. Only a deal with Logitech bore fruit - but that was only the hardware bit. The entire UI concept has just been lost in the frey, and now it looks like their financial troubles has them clinging at straws. For some reason I'm really hoping for an engineer working with a major aviation company to teach them a history lesson by having his/her company sue Hillcrest for using /their/ technology. After all, free space input devices have been in use for more than twenty years both in this and the military sector.

apeman

@Kral2:

Well, I'm slow to denounce it completely because then I feel like those loony anarchists who actually have convinced themselves the world is better off without a government.

However, in this case, there definitely do seem to be more bads then goods.

Mact

Here is a link with more information, as well as links to the patents themselves.

There are 4 patents, though three are basically the same. Those refer to a motion sensing device where you can move and tilt a pointer using a rotational sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an optical sensor, a magnetometer and/or a camera. So basically making a pointing device using currently existing technology.

The last one is a user interface that displays multiple items on screen, and you can zoom in or out.

I might have given them the first claim (okay, not really) except for the fact that when they go in to specify how movement is detected, they just mention every possibility. The second one, though, is just ridiculous.

Add in the previously stated demand of halting sales after a couple years and millions shipped, and you have a recipe for stupidity that can only happen in America.

Tiber

Isn't Hillcrest a patent troll? I remember reading about them suing a number of companies claiming that their patents are being infringed upon by anyone who uses a motion device as an interface. They always back down and settle for an out-of-court settlement because they have no intention of actually using their patents, they're just gaming the system.

Unfortunately patent trolls are chronic in the US where patent laws are built to favor trolls and old, uninnovative companies at the expense of newer or more innovative companies. It's basically taxing the successful to feed the trolls.

incognit000

Hm... interesting.

[www.hillcrestlabs.com]

Hillcrest Lab's big bad TV-navigation was announced in 2005.

Nintendo first mentioned the then-Revolution in 2004.

Mact

@Mact: Don't be afraid to hate the patent system, its design has massively failed society. For more, here's Richard Stallman on the failures of the patent system.

Kral2

I think in order to violate a patent you should have to have had a working model prior to the infringing person/company.

everyoneisstupid

@Xagest:

More than likely. But they don't care about the other guys because they can't rake in enough money from them.

The end lesson is that the patent system is broken and that people are douchebags.

Mact

I was kinda hoping it was someone suing over Wii fit/controller injuries. Wait, people in pain is wrong.

Maybe eventually it'll be, "Wii would like to sue."

wolfeditor

Of course, Stiderhayasa, we could be in China where it seems to be perfect acceptable to rip off another person's intellectual property without shame.

[kotaku.com]
[kotaku.com]
[www.japanprobe.com]

Mact

@wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!: Gah! I meant traditional gamers, of course. A sarcastic joke failure is me. Sadface!

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

I hope the Hillcrest patent doesn't say anything about making a device offering games for non-traditional gamers, because that would be something completely different from the Wii.

I kid, I kid!

In all seriousness, though, I hope this gets settled amicably. I don't believe Nintendo willfully violated any patents, and any similarities are hopefully just incidental. Nintendo deserve this success-- they bet big, and it paid off.

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

@Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.:

Thank you for exhibiting just the kind of person I don't want to be. I think I made it clear from my post that I don't believe -any- government is perfect, moron. However, for the most part, the positives of ours outweigh the bad.

But, yes, any kind of stupidity is possible here. Including that which allows one to believe we have the worst system on the planet.

Here, we over-enforce patents. The job of a judge is to rule whether a products violates a product. Under our current patent system, this probably would violate it, assuming Nintendo patented/developed the Wii after Hillcrest's patents were filed. Thus, as I previously stated, the problem is not with the judicial system, but with the patent system.

Mact

@Mact: the world is better off without our government? A government ruled not by laws but by the Federal Reserve that isn't federal at all but an independent corporation? A government that pushes the belief that the American Dream is to live in debt. A government that still can't seem to understand that the environment should be protected. No environment=everyone dies. Heeeeellllllooo.lol

back on topic. We really do need the patent system. What we don't need are bullshit, generalized claims like these that hurt the system more than anything else. It's funny that the actual patents are so vague, so broad that no competent judge should allow this case to go through but here in America...where bullshit is king, all types of stupidity is possible. Let's watch the fallout.

Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.

Too late for the bandwagon.

Kenny

@Xenigma:

The public not seeing it does not equal a legal party being aware of it. Remember, Nintendo likewise has an abundance of patents.

Even then, it shouldn't be difficult for Nintendo to prove that they had the technology in development beforehand.

Mact

@Mact: Exactly. I do happen to know who they have been working with besides us, and I can tell you that they have - however shortly - been involved with at least two very big developers of consumer electronics and telecommunication. However, they are unable to disclose their names because the deals fell through, and those companies would refuse affiliation unless an actual partnership was in place.

apeman

Bullshit.

I really wish we could string people like this behind cars and just drive.

Penchinon

im planning on suing Nintendo.
Wish me luck!

komoki

Interesting. The earliest of the motion control patents by Hillcrest Labs was filed in May of 2005.

Assuming Miyamoto spoke truth, the motion controls of the Wii were in development by at least 2003.

Mact

@NoBullet:Ah, I had missed your witty, flame spewing, ill-informed posts.

Foxstar Sixtail

I hope Nintendo loses. Its about time japan stops this patent stealing bullshit.

NoBullet

@everyoneisstupid: exactly, which is why this case feels like patent trolls regardless of how "reputable" the company is supposed to be. It's suspect when a company cries foul after the Wii has been at retail for almost two years and it was announced a year prior to launch. It's not like Wii was some super secret device. If Nintendo was in violation of some patent, then why didn't this come up years ago?

Simple.

Because if Hillchest wins the case they get a larger return based on the Wii's success. Take an old patent, made a broad claim that kinda sorta sounds like you're being violated and then sue the hell out of a company that took a great idea and made billions on it. it's all about the cash. Hence...Patent Trolls. Add Hillcrest to that list.

Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.

@everyoneisstupid: You never heard of them cause you don't care about them / not in your interest as a hobby or help. They are a big company itself and are pretty well known

djricekcn

What took them so long??? Fishy...

tmanflys

give us the true remote motion controller... without sensor bars... then maybe it won't be a problem.

neo177117

Well the GUI claim fails as their patent is for :
"A navigation interface display system generates a navigation element that organizes television programming data in an easy-to-use manner. The navigation element employs a hierarchical display protocol for a plurality of selection items that represent the various television programs, channels, and/or networks."
That is not what a Wii menu does. It is not diplaying television programming data. I think that the Wii menu will be ruled out of the scope of this patent

The motion technology one's could be a go though. It's up to Nintendo's lawyers to determine if a settlement is in order.If they decide not to settle, then it will be up to the courts.

shinigamixbl

Next, Remington will sue Nintendo for the Wii Zapper and its surprisingly similar "point and shoot" style.

Space_Cakes

Hey, I have a patent on breathing, 'll ***k you all and sue yer sorry 4$$!!!!!!

KristenBal

@KingBroly:

Yes, because going to court is something they can announce on day one. You do realize that they probably filed for this over a year ago, and it takes this long for it to be approved in the legal system and for us nobodies to find out about it.

EnigmaNemesis

Patent suits are such money grubbing bullshit.

It's always from tiny companies or individuals that would never have been able to make anything even close to what they're suing.

sir_carrot

How many people have fucking patents on motion control? Jesus.

Double J

I really hope Ninty doesn't lose to these dirtbags.

Sure, Nintendo CEO's roll around in playground built of hundred dollar bills and set them on fire everytime they're done, and I'm all for protection of intellectual property, but man. Two years after the system's been release? That's just fishing for money.

Mmfok

Nintendo is hoping an outraged fanboy is going to be the presiding judge.

SeedyXX

@MikeKelley: Best laugh I've had in a long time. Thank you, Mike.

apeman

This is sickening. I hope those patent trolls get what they deserve.

Furysetzer

This reminds me of the Olympic swimming events this year. As Phelps collected his eighth medal, he was sued by the French, who claimed to have patented the ideas of (1) swimming faster than others; (2) wearing of circular medal on a ribbon or chain; and (3) wearing the devices described in (2) on some sort of elevated platform during the presentation of a musical score such as a National Anthem.

When asked "Why does it matter if you had the idea first when Phelps was actually able to accomplish these things?" The French said replied, "With patent law, all you need is an idea. You never actually have to accomplish anything."

MikeKelley

Ok I take back the fact that they don't make money but they still do this way too late to be taken seriously. I am totally never buying anything from them

GodKiller0

@sir_carrot:

Yeah that's what's sick about it, the dudes we're probably to the point of prostitution and taught : heeey you remember that motion thingy we did 3 years ago that never took off because we clearly suck, let's sue nintendo over it! Sure we could of did this years ago when we knew it was coming, but not it's not a fad, so we can get more money then our sorry asses ever did just by being stupid retards and beg for money.

They should just stfu and do this before now, hell nintendo should just buy the company with the mortgages of the houses of people that are money grabbing jerks that's can't make a decent living with retarded appliances that never took off

GodKiller0

Amazing that they didn't know the wii had "their" tech until it was selling crack to druggies.

Neo-Senku: The World's Finest Pervert

@MikeKelley:

Oh god, please tell me teh French didn't ACTUALLY patent that shit?

Christ, go lose a war, baggots.

Asradi

Maybe they really are idiots. Suing the biggest video game company in existance, over a patented controller they've had for almost 2 years on the public market, isn't exactly wise.

Besides, it's Nintendo. They have Phoenix Wright. Hillcrest, your fucked.

Asradi

Everyone's gotta cash in while the pickin' is hot.

Altima NEO

Nintendo should countersue.

That would get the Hillcrest idiots off their back.

DRaGZ

There needs to be some kind of statute of limitations with patents to prevent this kind of crap from happening. Like you have X amount of time after a product hits the market that you have to research and sue the company selling it. I mean it's one thing if this was when the Wii's launch date was announced, but waiting two years while Nintendo went and dominated Sony and Microsoft before taking legal action?

If their patent claim is legit, they cleary care more about money than protecting any intelectual property.

Bricked

Who the hell isn't sueing Nintendo these days?

hamandcheeseUK

Hmm. I know some Wii fanboys will get mad at me for saying this but I really hope that the people who are suing Nintendo win. And I hope that Nintendo will have stop production on Wiis so that they can make a new console with graphics on par with 360 and PS3. Cuz that would be cool. Until then I'll be having lots of fun with my PS3.

lenandude

please please someone end the litigation happy nightmare this country has become. Death to all lawyers!

houkah

They waited too long. Nintendo already has enough money to afford a robot army, and have die hard fans all across the globe. Victory is not an option. No, seriously.

Shockadin

Its easy to recognize the patent trolls. They want a halt on sales, its a method of extortion. If they can get a judge to impose the halt then they can force the company to settle rather than have to prove their case. Most companies who have a hot selling product are not going to risk a long court battle in that case. However if they are not trolls and have a strong case they will let sales continue while the case is settled. That way they can be awarded damages on all the products sold during the legal process.

DBrown4840

and nintendo understands that graphics arn't everything. thats why their graphics are nver on par with the other 2.

digital_hazard

this reminds me of that law suit thing a few years back, where that guy claimed that david coperfield and david blain were stealing his "godly poers" to preform magic like making the liberty statue disapear.
i was amazed to find out that was a real case.

digital_hazard

@lenandude: I'm by far not a fanboy, since my Wii has been collecting dust for a very long time, but you're truly an ignorant jackass for making that comment. That's like saying I hope every Honda Civic in the world blows up with people in them because I want a better design for the car next production. You fail at life, and please go jump off a building.

JCVD

These guys aren't patent trolls. I know a couple guys who work there, serious technical types. They do in fact do stuff with motion controls.

Erwos

Haha, I have to say, a lawsuit is probably the only thing that could slow the Wii down. XD

But yeah, somebody said Hillcrest is screwed because Nintendo has Phoenix Wright: [objection.mrdictionary.net]

GhostWhoWalks

I was watching The Tonight Show a long time ago, and in Leno's huge, unfunny monologue, there was a gem. It went something like this:

"A writer today announced that he is suing the Disney and the producers of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies because he claims it contains many of the elements of his original screenplay, which he wrote 4 years prior and which Disney rejected.
You know what I don't get, how come this only happens with the movies that make a lot of money? Why don't you see this sort of thing happen to 'Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector'."

This applies here.

marmidukestank

Actually, I take that back, (RTFA Dandy!) they do apparently have a competing product... but they still suck. Who would want to wave a giant donut around (with the possible exception of Lard Lad).

mr.dandy

LOLz @ hillcrest.

enough said.

SicariusIV

Waiting 2 years was part of their strategy. They let Nintendo do all the work making revenue from the disputed technology, then sue them for a big chunk. It sure beats actually spending all that money on production and marketing to build a beloved product themselves. If they sued it out of existence before it got off the ground, they wouldn't have anything to fight for, since it's clear they never intended to release any sort of competing product. Even if there is merit to the infringement claims (which I doubt since Nintendo would have certainly done a patent search first) this company is patent-squatting scum.

mr.dandy

Here's a preview of Freespace and Home. The line that caught my eye:

"Hillcrest's rep at the expo dismissed the obvious comparisons with the gyroscopes in the Wii controllers; Freespace solved a completely different problem set, one useful for controlling interfaces."

So, now they're suing Nintendo for copying a product that was "completely different." Sounds a bit trolly, doesn't it?

[arstechnica.com]

boopadoo

Wow for once not a patent troll, maybe they took their time because they approached Nintendo about the infringements and did not like the response that Nintendo offered up. We will see in 15 months!

Talryyn

Considering the time it took them to file, I'm going to vote patent squatting until proven otherwise.

EmeraldDragon

Mmm. Course. Once something gets popular all sorts start coming out of the woodwork for a piece of the pie.

MPSai

@KingBroly:

Knowing the American court system, there's a possibility he started this back in 2006. lol.

Ryuk

Anyone remember this story?
[kotaku.com]

M

I have so many freakin good ideas on inventions that are not out yet and will surely exist...I should learn how to to patents and stuff. But I wouldn't wait 2 years to scream it, I would just let em use it for a % of the profit...hell 0.1% is enough to be rich and it sounds a lot nicer then a lawsuit.

GodKiller0

The US should really rework their patent laws. They are pure posion for innovation!

Garo

Suing Nintendo on something Wii related? How original.

Ryodestined

I just found out that the D-Pad wasn't even patented so I patented it! time to sue some asses!

*does the money dance*

/satire

interstate78

@EnigmaNemesis:

I know it's awfully hard to read such long packets of legal information, but the suit was filed today.

[www.hillcrestlabs.com]

Please try to pay more attention.

Mact

@PsyComa: yeah lets all sue nintendo because most of us did that when we were little!
@MikeKelley: You are so right with that

HELLSRIDER

@Ad-hominem: It is

devilmaycry2020

""While Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii, Hillcrest Labs wants a big fat piece o' dat tasty, tasty pie."

Purple Dave

How many different companies made the single wii mote motion design? Do we have a count?

Gwydeon

Nobody is going to take them seriously, if you're going to sue someone don't do it two years AFTER it's been on the market.

VengefulRonin

Didn't both companies lisence the motion sensing technology off another seperate company.

fuzzchopz

@PsyComa:

lol, just what I needed to start my day.

xstyme

Jealousy is an interesting thing yeah?

`

Hillcrest's patents:
[patft.uspto.gov]

Google has a patent search tool as well if the uspto.gov link doesn't work:
[www.google.com]

While I know everyone hates patents (including me!), I do know of a few fields that they are pretty much required in. I don't think consumer electronics needs the same patent protection as pharmaceuticals, and it would be nice if the patent system could get an overhaul to reflect the current state of progress.

NateN

I love how the companies sue Nintendo and Sony, but not Microsoft.

I mean, look at the legion of lawyers in MS.

Dekabreak

@Dekabreak: *blinks* Um.. What?

EOLAS v Microsoft (MS lost):
[en.wikipedia.org]

Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft (MS lost parts and won parts.):
[en.wikipedia.org]

Apple v Microsoft (old school!):
[en.wikipedia.org]

And I know the EU isn't a company, but... EU v Microsoft (MS lost):
[en.wikipedia.org]

I can find more if you still think Microsoft is never sued by any companies! :-P

On Immersion Corp.:
MS didn't get sued by Immersion because MS paid them off. Last I knew MS was now suing Immersion since Immersion promised MS some cash if Immersion settled with Sony.
[blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com]

I have no idea of the status of that suit these days.

NateN

@Mact:

Filed today just means it got through the legal system ... I am sure it was in the pipeline longer than that.

Bog cases, especially ones involving patents and large corporations, are usually months if not years in the making before they reach "filed today".

It is more common sense than not.

EnigmaNemesis

@EnigmaNemesis:

Seriously.

Is it -that- hard to read?
[www.docstoc.com]

Or the fact that Hillcrest themselves stated that the legal action was taken August 20th.

Or the fact that the case is still in the system.

Or that Nintendo just found out about the lawsuit the other day.

"'We haven't received any notice of the lawsuit and therefore are not in a position to comment at this time,'Nintendo's spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said by telephone from Kyoto. The company's shares fell 1.9 percent to 49,450 yen in Osaka trading." - [www.bloomberg.com]

But enjoy that thing you do.

Mact

Hey Im surprised! I mean, its not like that the Wii has never been sued before by mindless money grubbers that want to ruin life for children before!
Actually, I was kidding. That has happened many times before.

Smileface

@NateN:
Way to go destroying my opinion.

Want a cookie?

Dekabreak

Ofcourse, this could definitely be bullshit, but... don't companies/individuals look into patents before creating such products? I don't fully understand, nor do I know how the whole process work but couldn't someone take an idea and add a "twist" to it so they don't have to face legal issues?

ray phinkle